The time has come. Vodafone will, in just a few days’ time, become one of the first UK mobile networks to start the process of switching off their old 3G mobile (mobile broadband) platform, with people in the Devon city of Plymouth and the Hampshire town of Basingstoke being among the first to switch.
We don’t currently have the exact date in February 2023 for the switch-off process itself to begin, although Vodafone has already begun contacting customers identified as using the 3G network in Plymouth and Basingstoke to let them know of their intentions to switch-off the service. The goal, as originally announced a year ago (here), is to complete the switch-off across the UK by December 2023.
On the technical front, the change will enable some 10MHz of spectrum in the 900MHz band to be re-purposed for use by modern 4G and 5G mobile services, which could result in faster mobile broadband speeds and better network coverage of those platforms. Operators will also see better energy efficiency and lower maintenance costs once 3G is removed. Mobile operators will typically inform those impacted by both text and email.
By comparison, the 2G service will be sticking around for a lot longer, probably until 2033 for some operators (here), because a fair few services, such as some home Smart Meters, are still reliant upon it and some areas covered by 2G mobile still can’t access 4G or 5G (i.e. 2G is a useful fallback for predominantly voice-only style communications in some challenging rural areas).
In terms of the other operators..
The Phase Out Plan for 3G Mobile
➤ Three UK said they’ll be phasing out our 3G network service gradually over the next 2 years and switching it off by the end of 2024.
➤ EE (BT) will this year begin moving customers off 3G rather than switching the network off, but they aim to switch it off in early 2024.
➤ O2 (Virgin Media) informed us that they’ve yet to announce a public sunsetting timeframe, but are supportive of the Government plans to switch off both 2G and 3G by 2033.
We should point out that these changes will also impact any dependent Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) for the various primary providers (identical migration timescale to the primary operator), so you won’t be able to escape it by switching to one of them on the same physical network.